Thursday, July 17, 2008

Laws in Ancient America

As an introduction to the story of Korihor in Alma 30, a brief explanation is given of the way their laws worked back in 74 B.C., more specifically about their separation of church and state. They could have no law against a man's belief in order to keep men on equal ground and allow everyone the agency to choose to serve God or not. There were, however, laws against murder, robbery, stealing, and adultery. That was interesting to me. In today's world, adultery is seen as a religious/moral issue, not one punishable by the law. I wonder why back then it was a matter of the state instead of religion? Why is it not punishable by law today?

3 comments:

Most state or local gov't have laws against adultery but they are not enforced. A strong case can be made that such laws are necessary for strong families which is the basis of our society. However, its is difficult to enforce such a law because there are so many who break it.

I have thought the same thing. Especially since adultery causes so much more pain and suffering than would a crime such a theft or vandalism. I know you can't measure the amount of pain a wife or child suffers, but think about the monetary consequences -- deadbeat dads = more women and children on food stamps, welfare, state sponsored child care etc, etc. Not to mention the higher likelihood of the children from broken homes have of committing crimes inflicting social and economic costs all over society. If only everyone would just keep the commandments...

It actually is a law in a lot of places. Unfortunately, many lawmakers are guilty of it so they don't feel justified in prosecuting it. Many people don't feel morality can be legislated. That explains the state of the world today.